Swamp thing

Bogged down
Blandford-Blenheim Township, ON
June 2013
For more in-rough-shape Thematic, click here

Whether this swampy mess is, in fact, a bad thing is entirely up to the observer.

To many of us us - namely, typically neatnik humans who will do everything in our power to keep icky nature out of our homes, away from our vehicles and off of our clothes - this is a pea soup-tinged mess, something that should never be approached, touched or directly experienced in any way.

To the plants and animals that live here, it's an entirely different story, a convergence of richness that the outside world has blessedly not yet paved into submission.

I'd been seeing this out of the corner of my eye for days as I drove past it, thanks to a detour that prompted me to discover a new way to the office. Not wanting to get myself into an accident, I kept the peripheral staring to a minimum. Until I happened to have my camera in the car one day, that is, so I pulled over on the way home and grabbed a few snippets before continuing on my way.

The lovely heron - at least I think it's a heron, or maybe it's an egret - wouldn't play ball with me, so I shot him/her as he/she rested high in a tree. Which is just as well, since this is most certainly a bird's domain, and not mine. I was content to quietly take it in from a distance.

Your turn: Where do you go to get away from it all?

One more thing: We'll be launching a new Thematic theme, "grown", tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. In the meantime, we're still taking submissions for "in rough shape" here.